Large Garden Plot from Pasture: Take 2

[HawkinsHollow]

So I started a thread with a similar title a couple of months ago and in true TBN fashion it went sideways and the negative Nancys started telling me how stupid I was for doing a garden and hour away. I got so fed up with reading this I just gave up on the post. I guess it is partly my fault for not mentioning that this is not a garden I will be tending exclusively. This garden will be at a cabin my good friends stay in 3-4 days a week, so this is not a solo venture I am just a helper bee.

SOOOOO, now that that is out of the way can I get some information on how you guys would successfully turn a pasture into a garden plot? I am sure she wants to do it herbicide free and wants to move towards a no till arrangement in the future. They do have a 25 hp Kubota tractor and I have access to a good sized disc. Soil test samples are being taken this weekend. Looking to do things like corn, Tomatoes, winter and summer squash, beans, etc. Your typical summer veggie varieties. I am thinking cover crops/green manure this winter/spring might be a good idea.

 

[K5lwq]

Has this pasture been managed or is it just open land with grass on it? Has it had cattle?

Soil samples is a great start but if it has not been kept up with I would suspect it needs lime. Now is the time for spreading lime.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

It was a soybean field 5 years ago, been let go since then. My buddy keeps it bushhogged now, but yeah it is random grasses and weeds. I suspected the same thing about the lime, we will wait to hear back from the soil sample so we are not stabbing in the dark.

 

[K5lwq]

In that case it should not be compacted too much. Should make a nice garden spot. What type of cover crop are you considering?

 

[HawkinsHollow]

In that case it should not be compacted too much. Should make a nice garden spot. What type of cover crop are you considering?

Buckwheat? Clover? Haven't researched that yet.

 

[K5lwq]

Maybe check with the county extension office in that are and see what they recommend. Turnip Greens is what I have done in the past but I like to eat them. Also I am in a warmer climate so not sure what would be best.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, I remember the old post, but don't remember all the details from the posts. I would probably look at turn plowing and liming. I know everyone likes a 3 point tiller, but they can really over 'fluff' the soil, and then you need to recompact it somewhat to get good seed to soil contact, and also, you can build up an eventual hard pan layer.

When you say no till, do you mean strip till or true no till? Do you have a decent method to plant no till?

For the first season, I would look at turn plow and lime this winter, and then disk in spring. That's not going to completely kill off your weeds, but it should help and get you 60% there.

 

[jeff9366]

I am sure she wants to do it herbicide free and wants to move towards a no till arrangement in the future.

You can "turn" a pasture into a garden using mechanical means without herbicides.

You can grow perennial crops organically, without synthetic herbicides. (I farmed 200 acres of organically grown wine grapes in California.) However, gardens are almost always annual plants such as tomatoes, winter and summer squash, beans, etc. Your typical summer veggie varieties.

I have never known of annual plants being grown COMMERCIALLY no till.

 

[jeff9366]

They do have a 25 hp Kubota tractor and I have access to a good sized disc.

You keep feeding us these generalities.....

What is the Kubota model, which will tell us the tractor weight, which along with information on whether the tractor is 2-WD or 4-WD will tell us what size disk the tractor can pull.

No 25-hp tractor has sufficient weight to pull a disk harrow that can penetrate pasture sod in PRIMARY TILLAGE. A 25-hp, 4-WD Kubota can pull a disk with 16" diameter pans which will be adequate for SECONDARY TILLAGE in a garden tilled and planted every year.

A PTO-powered Roto-Tiller would be a far better tractor implement.

 

[paulsharvey]

Strip tilling might be what he needs; where you don't blanket disturb, but do till about a 30" area for the planting bed. You can also do a heavy organic mulch layer, to combat the weeds, and retain moisture.

if I remember right? he wanted a fairly large, like 1.5-2.5 acre garden, but I could have the details mixed up.